Mirvetuximab Soravtansine for Platinum-resistant Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cancer in women in the UK, with around 5,800 new cases every year in England. Just over half of all ovarian cancer cases in the UK each year are diagnosed in women aged 65 years and over. The symptoms of the disease are vague, including loss of appetite and tummy pain. This can mean that the cancer is diagnosed when the disease is advanced and more difficult to treat. Most patients have the cancer removed by surgery and also receive chemotherapy, which usually includes platinum-based drugs. However, the disease often comes back (recurs), and the platinum-based chemotherapy drugs may be less effective at treating this recurrence. If the cancer recurs within 6 months of the previous treatment, and platinum-based chemotherapy does not work, the disease is called “platinum-resistant”.
Mirvetuximab soravtansine has been developed to treat ovarian cancer that is platinum-resistant. The drug is administered by intravenous infusion and works in two stages. First, it recognises a receptor on the cancer cells, attaches itself to the cancer cell and then enters it. When it is inside the cancer cell the drug releases a toxic substance that kills the cancer cell when it tries to grow. This toxic substance can spread to other nearby cancer cells, killing them as well. If licensed, this drug would provide an additional treatment option to women with ovarian cancer when other treatments have stopped working.

Twitter

Related Posts

Ixazomib citrate is a novel oral medicinal product that is already licensed in the UK for the treatment of MM in patients who have received at least one prior therapy (in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone). Ixazomib citrate offers the potential advantage over similar medicines in its class of being more effective in its anticancer activity, less toxic (reduced side effects) and more convenient to administer (through its weekly oral dosing). If approved as maintenance therapy following stem cell transplant in newly diagnosed MM patients, ixazomib citrate has the potential to improve the success rates of treatment by improving progression free survival and overall survival as well as presenting a more convenient way of administration that allows long term administration and improvement of patients’ quality of life.

Treosulfan given with fludarabine is being developed as a new conditioning therapy for people with conditions like AML or MDS prior to SCT. Both drugs are administered by injection and clinical studies have shown that, compared to current conditioning therapies, treosulfan might increase the success of the SCT with fewer complications, allowing people to live for longer.

PV-10 is an investigational new medicinal product that contains 10% rose bengal disodium. PV-10 is given as an injection directly into the affected skin lesion. PV-10 acts by destroying tumour cells and inducing the body’s immune response against tumour cells. PV-10 is being developed for the treatment of locally advanced cutaneous melanoma in patients who are not candidates for targeted therapy and/or an immune checkpoint inhibitor (treatments that help the body recognise and attack cancer cells). If licensed, PV-10 may offer a new treatment option for this patient group with a potential of durable local control and restricted toxicity to the injection site.

Eflornithine in combination with sulindac is being developed as a treatment for FAP. Both these drugs slow down the growth of the polyps in different ways, and taking them together is thought to be potentially more effective than taking them alone. If licensed, this drug combination could reduce or delay the need for surgery or other major endoscopic procedures for people with FAP.